


Unexpected

by Amaikurai



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Cat Ears, Dib allergies, Fluff, I have no regrets, M/M, ZaDr, Zim acts and kinda looks like a cat, based off in the cover of issue 48, cat-zim, hadcanons, petting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-31 18:35:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20119762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amaikurai/pseuds/Amaikurai
Summary: Dib is by himself until an irken with cat ears and tail appears to interrupt his life.





	Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> First off, I want to clarify that I was inspired by two IZ comic issues. Even though one of them is just because the cover, i still count it. The first issue is the #11 about Dib's allergies, in which it is mentioned that Dib was allergic to pet's fur and Zim used it against him. I know that in such issue Dib was cured from his allergies but let's supposed he didn't. The other one is the new cover of issue #48.  
So, it is important to clarify that in this fic Dib still has his allergy, and he doesn’t know that Zim knows about it.
> 
> Also I want to thank kioxolot on Tumblr for inspiring me to this. Thank for such beautiful drawing, dude. Here is my gratitude present to you ;u;

He tapped his pencil on his desk, while his thoughts automatically diverged toward certain green menace. He was currently at his room, writing down some notes about a chicken vampire or something like that. If he was honest, several minutes ago he forgot completely what he was doing to focus into thinking in Zim’s next plan. He had no idea as the irken became more distrustful towards him. Actually, Zim barely talked to him, which made him conclude that he was plotting something evil. He was almost one-hundred percent sure.

He squinted his eyes and thought about any possible scheme that Zim could come up with since the last failed plan. Lucky him, he was able to stop on time before Zim blew up the build-a-Teddy shop. Lately, Zim had an obvious hatred for stuffed animals. If he recalled well, he mentioned something about his minion robot filling up their house with them. For some reason, Zim firstly thought about controlling children and therefore adults using the toys to achieve it. Of course, he couldn’t bear the horrific cuteness when his sidekick got an intense love for them and dumped a bunch of stuffed toys into the invader’s base. 

Now, Zim was very quiet about his plans, which was unusual as the irken always exploit the opportunity to brag about his ideas. But this time, he just attended their classes as if nothing happened.

“What are you plotting, Zim?” he mentioned to himself, resting his jaw over his hand in a thoughtful pose. “Whatever it is, I will stop you.”

Even if there was no one to hear him, he was accustomed to speaking out loud. A bad habit that his sister frequently utilized to mock him. 

However, a rattling sound outside his windows caught his attention. For a moment, he thought that it could be an object being blown away by the wind, rasping the roof of his room. But the sound continued for the next seconds, and he even could swear that it was like an animal walking on the roof. Probably it was a raccoon or something, he concluded. Then, he turned back towards his notebook ready to continuing doing some notes for his investigation.

As the minutes passed, he couldn’t hear the sound anymore. So whatever it was, it was gone.

He was going to sketch a diagram when a sudden tap on his window startled him. It wasn’t like someone did it, it was more like a random tapping, he could easily say that it was like a scratching more than a knocking sound. This time he was completely sure to investigate was it was that about. Hesitantly, but determined to discover the truth, Dib stood up and walked to the window. 

A couple steps before reaching his destination, he gulped nervously. He forced himself to be brave and face whatever it was on the outside, even though he feared that it could be a wild animal waiting to attack. It could be that raccoon he thought a few moments ago. 

He encouraged himself and counted to three before sliding the curtain to the side to look outside. 

_ There was nothing.  _

A puzzled expression appeared on his face. That was weird. He just heard the sound second before, so it didn’t make sense that there was nothing. 

He decided to check by opening the window, supporting his hands on the windowsill before stuck out his head to look for the source of the sound. Only that he was received for the emptiness of the street and the blowing wind.

_ Strange. _

Whatever. He could have imagined it anyway. He hasn’t had enough rest these days anyway, so he wouldn’t be surprised if he heard noises due to his sleep deprivation. 

In the end, he proceeded to shrug the topic off, and walk back towards his desk. He was going to seat down when he heard a thud sound at his back. He stopped his movement at the very moment. He was sure that he didn’t imagine it this time, even if the noise was barely audible.

His thoughts ran like a madman picturing whatever scenario he could expect from the sound. A shiver ran through his spine as his logic concluded that it could be something so evil. Something that only his nemesis could think. His paranoia raised up and his body reacted by paralyzing a few moments in astonishment with the realization. 

During that time, there was just silence. Broke up by the loudly beats of his heart. He feared to face whatever it was, but he had to do it. He had to defend himself at least. 

Once more, he forced himself to be brave and prepare to fight at the first threat against him.

He counted until three in his mind and turn over in a defensive pose, trying to look confident.

However, his confidence lasted nothing and his fear increased abruptly when recognized what it was. That green skin, and the big magenta eyes were easily identified by the teen. But it wasn’t those characteristic which triggered that dread feeling over all his body, but two recognizable ears and a tail. Cat ears to be more accurate. 

Memories about his horrible allergy to the felines produced a total rational terror in Dib. Along with extreme confusion as he had no idea about what was going on. 

“AAAAAAAH”

Immediately, he stepped back as much as possible. Going as far as jumping onto the desk and throwing kicks to the air aiming for whatever  _ that _ thing was. Surely, it looked like Zim somehow… but those ears inspired everything but normalcy. 

“What  _ the fuck _ , Zim?” Dib exclaimed with a slight tremble in his voice. Did Zim know about his allergies? He had to. There was no other explanation for this. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?!”

Zim didn’t answer. He just kept staring at Dib, tilting his head slightly at the harsh tone. But he didn’t have any further reaction, standing in the same spot. Dib felt vulnerable under Zim’s look. Also, he was concerned about Zim’s lack of reaction, usually he got responses more violent and explosive.

Dib then proceed to analyze the irken, Zim’s tail was swinging softly and his ears movements were imperceptible. After a few moments when there was just calm, Dib decided that it was safe enough to get down from the desk. He didn’t advance towards Zim, though. He had to anticipate an attack before it could be late. He had to keep a certain distance, just in case. He murmur another curse when he noticed that he had no weapon to defend himself. Plus, he didn’t know Zim’s intentions. But there was one thing he was sure, it wasn’t going to be good for him. 

“Zim?” He tried calling him, but there was no verbal response. “Zim? Is this part of your evil plans because if that so, then...”

But he couldn’t finish his sentence because Zim moved forward in a quick, sneaky movement that Dib couldn’t respond on time. It wasn’t until a few seconds after that he realized Zim’s warmth against his body, he tried to step back just to hit his back on the desk’s edge. The pain was immediately forgotten as his brain alarmed yell him that he had to go away or his body was going to fall into an allergic reaction. His skin would become reddish and itchy, in mere seconds it would swell and the subsequent aftermath would be to spend days at the hospital. That if he didn’t die before. 

He waited terrified for the symptoms, but to his surprise there was none. Not only he was fine, but Zim was rubbing himself against Dib. He even was able to feel a strange trembling coming from Zim. Was… was he purring? 

The whole scene was completely surreal that he was having troubling finding a common sense of what was happening. Was by any chance sleeping and this was just a weird dream? Why would he dream of Zim being a cat in the first place? Why was Zim purring? Didn’t cats purr when there were happy?

There was no logical answer to any of those question. Well, except for the first one. Because Zim scratched his cheek out of blue, and the pain was a confirmation that he was awake. And alive. 

“Ouch! Why was that?”

Zim hissed, and then rubbed his head onto Dib’s hand in an implicit petition that Dib couldn’t believe. But, hey, it was probable that he finally went crazy.

“Do you want me to pet you?” Dib asked incredulously. Zim responded with another purr and keep looking for Dib warmth. “I can’t believe that I’m actually petting you. I mean, I think that I could believe if you come and kill me, that would be something I could easily respond to. But this? This is really weird.”

Despite his words, he didn’t stop pampering Zim’s head. He even stroke Zim’s hears, obtaining an interesting reaction as the irken-cat closed his eyes and demanded more petting.

“Heh, you look cute doing that,” Dib commented without really thinking his words. When he processed what he said he pulled his hand away and managed to get away from Zim. “I mean, I d-didn’t say out loud. Did I? OH GREAT BIGFOOT, WHAT DID I JUST SAY TO MY NEMESIS?!” He sounded genuinely concerned about himself, stepping forward until reached the edge of his bed and getting some support while his other hand covered his eyes not wanting to see Zim anymore. Actually, he would like to conserve a little dignity and sanity, thank you. 

But nothing went as he wanted and he couldn’t help to look up his enemy. Just in case he decided to attack. Yes, it was because he couldn’t let his guard down. 

He wasn't prepared for that sight. Zim once again tilted his head in confusion as he read Dib’s reactions, and then Dib could swear that he rolled his alien orbs. Pulling towards Dib, making him sitting on the bed. Zim suddenly got closer to Dib, only to finishing settling himself on Dib’s lap. Even when the irken conserved the same height since he arrived on the Earth, he was still too small compared with the human teenage. That help Zim to fit perfectly on Dib’s personal space and cuddling against his torso. 

Dib emotions were too mixed up to find the correct answer at Zim’s attitude. He felt nervous about his body reaction to Zim’s state. But then he concluded that if he didn’t sneeze at the beginning, it would be practically impossible that he had an allergic reaction at this point. Secondly, Zim’s behavior was creepy and disturbing for him. Thirdly, for some strange reason, he had no much trouble responding to Zim’s demands on petting him and carry him in that way. So he didn’t know if he was truly frightened by Zim or himself.

On one side, he found that Zim was actually much calmer in that way and he didn’t have to listen to his obnoxious comments or voice. On the other hand, fondling an irken-cat who was his nemesis had no sense at all. And there was his little logic still alive. Zim and he were enemies, for god’s sake. He had to stop immediately.

“Zim, I don’t know what happened to you or what are you doing this, but you have to stop. You are creeping me out. See? I don’t even have an allergic reaction caused by your cat form, so you should just go away before this gets any weirder…”

Even though he tried to sound severe, he didn’t stop his strokes on Zim’s head, which was surprisingly soft. Also, somehow Zim’s purr sounds were coolly and ease his anxiety. 

Zim looked up at his words and Dib thought that finally he was heard by the irken-cat, was he understanding what was going on?

His inquiry was answered by Zim face getting close to his. In the instant that Zim’s bumped section in the middle of his face, which Dib assumed was where it should be his nose, connected with Dib’s human noise. The contact was brief, but it felt like it was longer. Air got stuck in Dib’s lungs when they shared what he heard was called an Eskimo kiss. He was too afraid of such action, so intimate and senseless that take away any straight thought in Dib’s mind. 

Zim seemed to smile smugly, completely satisfied, before cuddling once more absorbing the human warmth.

Meanwhile, Dib’s brain was recovering from that unforeseen shutdown. He looked down to the irken-cat, finding a peaceful expression in Zim’s features. The alien-cat almost looked like he could fall asleep without a problem, so steady and adorable.

And maybe, just maybe, Dib accepted that Zim-cat wasn’t as bad as he thought. But he was completely sure that it was completely unexpected.

**Author's Note:**

> It is a miracle! I started and finished on the same day, plus, it is in English. I should write more English stories ;u;  
Now going back to the fic:
> 
> I hoped you liked it. I couldn't help to picturing Dib and Zim doing a Eskimo kiss, it is so lovely!  
Also, I don't usually like furry characters, but Zim with cat ears and tail is my weakness and that cover just touched and melted my fangirl heart. I totally love it. I am planning bringing more IZ stories, so don't worry about it UwU
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
